Monthly Archives: September 2011

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You were supposed to get a book review today, but I had a dentist appointment this afternoon. I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal, but I ended up needing three shots to numb one spot to work on one tooth. (Last night, I wasn’t feeling well, so you got another unplanned kid post.) So, I’m going to go lay my hungry self down for a little while (because of course I can’t eat right now – at supper time), get up and pop a couple of Tylenol, then lie back down again.

The boys ended up going with me for part of my appointment until their dad could get there to pick them up. Jeffrey had his DS and Bennett had books. They didn’t even need them. They sat in the floor in the corner and looked through the “goody basket” and talked to the dentist and her assistant. The boys were so sweet! I was so proud of them. I’m so glad I don’t have children that I have to worry about running around or messing with stuff at times like that. They can drive crazy at times, but they’re respectful and (mostly) mindful of how to act in certain situations. Not sure how much I actually had to do with that, but I’ll take credit for it anyway. I need something to make me feel better tonight.

When asked, Bennett told them he’s three and, “I’m going to have another birthday and I’ll be four.” The dentist asked him if he liked birthdays (of course he said yes) and if he had a cake on his birthday. She asked him what was on his cake. “Letters and numbers.” That’s my boy.

I recently received an email about The Uprise Books Project. The goal of The Uprise Books Project is to provide books to underprivileged teens. Literacy rates are linked to poverty rates and Justin Stanley and his cohorts want to get books into the hands of kids who wouldn’t normally take the time to even find out if they would enjoy reading… But we’re not talking about just any books. Uprise will distribute books on the Banned and Challenged Books list. Why? To quote the Uprise Kickstarter page:

“…we think that the idea that these texts have been banned and challenged might motivate these kids to actually read the things. A sixteen-year-old boy might not care that the Radcliffe Publishing Course called The Great Gatsby the best novel of the 20th century, but his inherent teen sense of rebellion might entice him to pick up a book challenged because of its ‘language and sexual references.’ ”

You know how some video games are single-player games? Well, apparently we now have single-watcher movies in our house. The boys watched Night at the Museum this weekend. This morning, Bennett wanted to watch Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Jeffrey wanted B to wait until he finished his schoolwork so he could watch it, too. Bennett insisted, “It’s a one-person DVD.”

You can easily do those three things right from this post, using the buttons at the bottom of the post. Each entry needs to be in a separate comment. (To get the link for the fb post or tweet, just click on the time stamp below your post.) Make sure that your email address is in the comment or that I can contact you through your profile.

Entry will close at 11:59 PM EDT, Friday, September 30, 2011. Winner will be chosen using www.randomizer.org and will be notified by email. Winner will have 48 hours to reply to claim the book. For more information, see the“Make It Mine” Mondaypage. Sorry, US only.

The kids and I spent all day looking for a heart-shaped pillow (turns out October isn’t the best month to be looking for heart-shaped pillows) and Halloween costumes. We went to ten different stores. Foursquare informed me that I had reached “OverShare” status. And that was before we hit Burger King and Kroger. I do have to share that we walked to several stores instead of driving the car from store to store in the shopping center. (That’s for my eco-friendly friends.) (It occured to me two hours after I wrote this that it’s not actually October yet. Apparently no one caught that or you’re all being nice to the weird girl.)

Anyway, as we were buckling in after leaving one store, a car alarm was going off. Jeffrey had asked me why I need a heart-shaped pillow. I was telling him it’s for my blog (you’ll see why in a few days), and that my blog was about books, and because at that time, Bennett was bobbing his head and making faces in time with honking alarm, I added, “and weird kids”.

Jeffrey said, “We’re not weird kids! What makes us weird kids?” “What about you isn’t weird?”“Hey!”Five seconds later, “So if you swallow a cheese maker…”“And you’re asking why I said you’re weird?”

And that’s how my whole day went. Incidentally, my step-son’s girlfriend has a heart-shaped pillow she’s letting me borrow, so I was able to abandon that hunt after about six stores. (Thank you, Becca!)

BTW, don’t tell me I shouldn’t call my kids weird. We both laughed all through the conversation. We have an excellent relationship and they (well, Jeffrey does, Bennett isn’t really old enough) tease me all the time, too.

Giveaways
Teressa O. won a Smashwords code for Unspoken Stories -Volume 1.
Helen K. was the winner of Seeing Ezra in last week’s “Make It Mine” Monday drawing.
Congratulations to both ladies! Thanks to everyone who entered! (I’m starting to wonder if any men read my blog. All my winners are women…)

Sneak peek of next weekReviews
I don’t know yet which books I’ll be reviewing this week. That, my friends, is what as known as planning ahead… or not. I assure you there will be reviews, though.

Giveaways
The Banned Books Giveaway Hop is still running, through October 1. I’m giving away a new copy of 1984. (As opposed to an old beat-up copy I found in the back of my closet.) There are 200+ blogs participating in this hop, so go get some free books!

Tomorrow’s “Make It Mine” Monday will be When Sparrows Fall by Meg Moseley. There are still a few hours left to vote, so if you want a different book, go make your voice heard. 🙂